Ramblers to announce sponsor?

Club celebrating 45th anniversary

The Amherst Ramblers are expected to announce a new major corporate sponsor on Thursday.

AMHERST – The Amherst Ramblers’ long search for a sponsor may be about to end.

The Ramblers have scheduled a press conference for Thursday at the Amherst Stadium at which time the team is expected to announce it has acquired a major corporate sponsor.

“I cannot comment on that at this time,” team president Jim Henwood said Tuesday. “There will be an announcement on Thursday, that’s all I can say.”

The Ramblers are one of the few teams in the Maritime Junior Hockey League without a major sponsor – something that has hindered their ability to remain financially competitive.

The team has operated without a sponsor since 1997 when a community group purchased the franchise from Halifax businessman Jim Bent. Bent, the son of team founder Moe Bent, operated the team as the Amherst Mooseheads.

The Ramblers had other sponsors in the past including General and Eastern Homes, that sponsored the club when it won the 1989 Maritime Junior A championship and in 1993 when it hosted the Centennial Cup (now known as the Royal Bank Cup).

The club is celebrating its 45th anniversary this season and is expected to announce plans today for a celebration on Dec. 1 that will include members of the 1968 team.